Hi all!!! Maybe you rented our Villa in Chianti? Based on sleeping outside of Florence a daily visit (or maybe 2) is a great idea to enjoy part of this unique city.
In the event you will arrive in Florence by car you have several different options: Park outside of the historical city center based on your arrival direction or drive up to the citycenter and park in one of the assisted parking.
All is based on your preferences and ease of day you would like to have.
Option 1 – Villa Costanza Parking
Parking here you will need to get out of the highway A1 at the Villa Costanza Exit. You will leave the car there and get the tramway T1 up to Florence SMN Station.
Pro: supereasy
Con: might have issues in getting the tramway in peak times/high seasons
Option 2 – Park in surrounding parking around the city out of the citycenter
This parking are usually less expensive than the citycenter one, attended. Our favourite place is Autorimessa Affrico – Via Luca Landucci 2
They have car management and deposit in the same place not moving the cars. You can than make a walk of 1km to arrive at the beginning of the historical citycenter or 2.5km to reach the very hearth of it. A taxi run to the area of Citycenter heart is 10/12€, as Villa La Monta is part of SmallFlorenceAccomodation and sister of Villa Landucci, you can easily refer to VillaLanducci staff to ask for it!
Option 3 – Park in one of the citycenter parking place
Here there are different places and services. Most of them are small garage for the short stay (within 2 hrs usually) and move car to outside parking for longer stay. Request to be preinformed about your pickup time with at least 1 hour notice.
Personally i prefere International Garage – via Palazzuolo – as they have handling and deposit in the same place not moving the car away.
Option 4 – Park on the street
You can park nowhere for free in the city of Florence. White lines are for resident, blue lines are hourly paid rate is about 2€/hour.
We suggest Easypark as a payment method so you can make your parking longer and shorter from your mobile without need to go back to the car.
Do not try “free parking, nothing will happen”. If car towed you got very bad surprise, especially on sundays.
Moving around in Florence
The historical city center of Florence is very small, tiny I’d say. The turistic part is about 2km wide.
You can walk everywhere. Renting a bike for a full day is not my favourite option as, renting in that way, you are responsible of the bike. If something happen to the bike, you have to pay for it.
There is a sharing bike service – Movi – that rent bikes continuousely on use. Price are cheap, bikes are simple, some of them electric assisted too. Use the bike as long as you like, drop it on a side of the street when not needed anymore, close rental. Rent again when you will need again. Easier that what it seems. Pay attention: 1 mobile=1 bike.
What to visit in a day?
If you have prebooked your ticket for Uffizi or Accademia enjoy them but consider that a Uffizi visit is usually at least 3 or 4 hours while Accademia is 1/1.5h. If you do not make them ahead do not think about lining up. It is extremely difficult to access without a reservation. If you would like to be part of a guided group tour you can check several tour operator that create guided tour in small group, usually max 25 people. CiaoFlorence and Florencetown are the most famous (promocode LanducciV10 make a 10% off on the first operator.)
In the event the big musesums are not in your cords, there are plenty of less famous or less crowded ones. Here our list of preferred
Palazzo Vecchio – Check availability for Secret Passages Tour or Vita a Corte if you have kids below 10yrs old. (1.5hours visit, 2 hours if adding climb of the tower)
Museo Galileo – the second place in the world for Mathematic, Phisicians and engineer people, you can almost shake your hand with him and on special occasion meet him too. (1/1,5 hour for a visit)
Museo Palazzo Davanzati – This is in my opinion the nearest thing to a time machine. Enter as you like and you see how strange/fool will be the life of florentine people in the 16th century. Enter with a “brain wash” to all modern science and social changes and you will see instead how smart that people were. As you enter immediately ask if it will be possible to visit the Kitchen. That is the most important room of the place. (1/1,5 hour for a visit)
The Rose Garden – one of the nicest garden of Florence. Just below Piazzale Michelangelo with a complete different point of view compared to that.
Piazzale Michelangelo do you want to have the iconic postcard of Florence? This is the point…
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Florence is also famous for its Cathedral (Duomo) and Basilicas and Churches. The Main Cathedral is free to visit entering from the left door on the facade. You will find a quite a long line (up to 2 hours in summertime). There are not skip the line tickets but you can buy the Ticket Ghiberti Pass on the Duomo official website and, after the visit of Santa Reparata you will pop into the Main Cathedral part. Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella and San Lorenzo require a ticket to enter due to their dual Church/Museum status, all other Basilica and Churches are free.
Special Mention to San Miniato with the Latin vesper service at the sunset with gregorian chants performed inside the crypt.
Santissima Annunziata (simply immense) and the church of SanMichele e San Gaetano at the end of Via Tornabuoni and the little church of Santa Margherita de Cerchi. The Church where Dante met Beatrice for the first time are churches with their own story behind. Almost unknown.
All this option will bring you more than filling a day but it is something that you can set your first touch with Florence on a single day. Come back for more days or more one day visit, the city will never disappoint you and you can make different “fil rouge” visit!
Wait a moment, we forgot about food…No no, here it is!!
Easy solution: Mercato di San Lorenzo on the 1st Floor! It is a food court made of food preparation point. Really high quality at rotisserie prices. Crowded but Fun!!
Want to eat in a former church – now restaurant – with an amazing fresco in the main room? Natalino will be your place, hosted by Gabriele. I love their Lasagne and Bistecca…
Something nearby the river? DaBarba!! Francesco has been a restaurant manager for decades and now have his own place just along Lungarno Corsini, perfect also for a Sunset Aperitivo!!
Do not forget the IceCreams…
Perchè No?! Gelati del Bondi, Gelateria dei Neri, Gelateria della Passera… Florence is plenty of it and… these are just the one I like more!!
We forgot the Iconic lunch of Florence. Panino col Lampredotto. Do NOT ask what is that, do NOT google it up. It is great! If you are not vegetarian you have to try it and the place i love more is Pollini Truck at Sant’Ambrogio… Try it, than you will tell me if you like it up!!!
